Mental property (IP) is quietly turning into certainly one of blockchain’s most sensible frontiers — not as digital artwork, however as programmable infrastructure linking AI, gaming, and artistic rights. BeInCrypto spoke with Andrea Muttoni, President and Chief Product Officer of Story, an on-chain IP platform constructing the rails for international licensing and royalty automation.
- The Rise of Programmable IP and the Structure Behind Story
- The Evolving Inflection Level for On-Chain IP
- Effectivity and New Royalty Rails on Story
- Incentives and Integration Throughout the IP Economic system
- UX Simplification and Creator Retention
- Reflexivity and Story Token Governance
- Information as a Market Sign
- Conclusion
On this interview, Muttoni explains why adoption might arrive as a cultural second moderately than a technical milestone, how the $IP token aligns worth with artistic exercise, and what authorized interoperability means for the following decade of digital rights.
The Rise of Programmable IP and the Structure Behind Story
Story Protocol, the corporate behind the Story Community, launched in February 2025 and goals to develop into the “IP layer of the Internet.”
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After elevating $54 million in 2023 and one other $80 million in 2024, led by a16z, the group launched a purpose-built layer-1 blockchain. It permits IP Belongings (tokenized works), Programmable IP Licenses (PILs), and a Royalty Module for real-time, on-chain income distribution.
“We built Story to make intellectual property programmable across mediums,” Muttoni mentioned. “Whether it’s AI-generated data, virtual assets, or film IP, creators should have a transparent way to license and monetize their work.”
Supporters view this structure as a basis for clear provenance and composable licensing. Critics query whether or not smart-contract licenses can maintain up in court docket with out authorized recognition.
The Evolving Inflection Level for On-Chain IP
With over $80 trillion in artistic belongings globally, on-chain IP is rising as a market layer linking creators, enterprises, and AI platforms. Story already hosts greater than 200 groups and 20 million IP registrations throughout leisure, gaming, and information purposes.
Advantages of Tokenization of IP Belongings | SoluLab
“There won’t be a single inflection point for on-chain IP because intellectual property keeps evolving,” Muttoni mentioned. “We’ve built Story to evolve in parallel — with integrations across AI, gaming, and Hollywood — so creators can track and license works directly.”
“The real inflection point may not be raw numbers but a cultural moment — like a remix of BTS art turned into a game with automated revenue sharing via Story,” he added. “When millions use on-chain IP without realizing it’s Web3, that’s when the shift has happened.”
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This view aligns with WIPO’s 2024 World Mental Property Report, which notes that international IP capability stays concentrated in fewer than ten economies. Digital IP markets, it provides, nonetheless depend on institutional moderately than technical integration. The inflection level for tokenized IP might rely as a lot on coverage harmonization as product adoption.
Effectivity and New Royalty Rails on Story
Conventional royalty techniques akin to ASCAP pay creators quarterly via layers of intermediaries. Story goals to modernize that course of.
“Today, royalties flow through opaque intermediaries and take months to reach creators,” he mentioned. “On Story, programmable royalties settle in seconds, not months — and move globally without friction. That’s transformative for independent artists and emerging markets.”
But, because the IMF’s 2025 Fintech Notice warns, real-time tokenized settlement can heighten systemic danger if oversight and liquidity buffers lag. On the spot payout is highly effective — however with out safeguards, it might outpace regulation. Story’s long-term success might depend upon integration with regulated monetary rails.
Incentives and Integration Throughout the IP Economic system
“Our current IP system is broken,” Muttoni mentioned. “Creators and enterprises are fighting AI companies, but what’s needed is a tech-native framework where IP can be freely licensed and protected at scale. Story provides the rails rights organizations can integrate into — not compete with.”
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Authorized battles between AI builders and rights holders expose a structural hole: the web outpaced infrastructure defending artistic work. The World Financial Discussion board’s 2025 tokenization report notes that such markets evolve “non-linearly and in phases.” Adoption often begins inside permissioned, regulated environments — not open networks. Story’s declare of “legal interoperability” might thus require a phased rollout aligned with information privateness and jurisdictional norms.
UX Simplification and Creator Retention
“Licensing and rights management have long been reserved for studios with lawyers,” Muttoni mentioned. “Through our IP Portal, anyone can register IP on-chain in minutes — no lawyers, no intermediaries, no platform fees. The goal is to make licensing intuitive, not bureaucratic.”
Reflexivity and Story Token Governance
“Reflexivity is normal in crypto markets,” Muttoni mentioned. “But IP registered on Story is tied to real-world use cases. The $IP token powers licensing, staking, and governance — a productive asset linked to creative activity, not speculation.”
The CFA Institute’s 2024 evaluation provides a extra reserved view: tokenization might unlock new asset courses however faces valuation opacity and custody danger. Institutional buyers, it argues, will deal with IP tokens as infrastructure evolution, not speculative performs — a stance that might mood hype round Story’s $IP token.
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Information as a Market Sign
As AI’s want for rights-cleared information grows, new metrics might outline IP worth — licensing quantity, royalty accruals, and provenance velocity.
“Some of the most valuable IP will be assets licensed for AI training,” Muttoni mentioned. “AI’s bottleneck isn’t compute — it’s rights-cleared data. Poseidon, a project on Story, lets anyone license real-world data as IP, creating measurable value between data providers, AI developers, and users.”
This mirrors feedback from Rayhaneh Sharif-Askary, Head of Product & Analysis at Grayscale, who described Story as “linking blockchain coordination to AI model training.” She famous that Poseidon’s mannequin might flip on a regular basis human exercise into tokenized, rights-cleared information for machine studying. Her remarks present how programmable IP would possibly unite artistic economies and AI improvement inside one infrastructure.
The overlap between IP and AI underscores a broader coverage debate. The WIPO 2024 report notes that innovation thrives when regulation, analysis, and commerce evolve collectively. Story’s long-term success might rely much less on token mechanics and extra on whether or not international IP governance retains tempo with expertise.
